Random thoughts that are pointless and too dumb to say anywhere else thread: 2015–2018 (plus one)

[Baldkin]

My wife made me watch the world cup final today. I can definitely appreciate the athleticism that it takes to play soccer but, sorry, I just don't get it. Nothing I watched was interesting in any way.

 

Also, I don't know who the announcers were but they were pretty dull and boring, which didn't help at all.

 

This is the same thing anyone who doesn't follow baseball says about baseball.

 

Until you learn the intricacies of the sport, it is pretty darn boring. You also watched a game that was over 15 minutes in. (Like watching a 10-0 game after the 2nd inning)

[ewitkows]

And you were watching women. Kinda like watching a WNBA game instead of an NBA game

[tmwiese55]

i really watched soccer for the first time during last year's men's WC. So I learned the basic rules and strategies. Mostly was watching because I was gambling on it but either I learned it and gained some appreciation and I watched the majority of games. For the women's I watched three total games (last two US and the Japan game in the quarters) and I was way more entertained by the women's. I don't know if it was just small sample size or what but there just seemed to be way more aggressiveness and scoring opportunities. Still, it's not like I'm going to start watching MLS or anything but I'll pay attention to Olympics and WC

[Baldkin]

i really watched soccer for the first time during last year's men's WC. So I learned the basic rules and strategies. Mostly was watching because I was gambling on it but either I learned it and gained some appreciation and I watched the majority of games. For the women's I watched three total games (last two US and the Japan game in the quarters) and I was way more entertained by the women's. I don't know if it was just small sample size or what but there just seemed to be way more aggressiveness and scoring opportunities. Still, it's not like I'm going to start watching MLS or anything but I'll pay attention to Olympics and WC

 

The women's game is played differently than the men's. They play wider and a much more cross-oriented game then the men do. In my opinion this is mostly due to the sheer size and ability difference in goalkeepers. When you're average male keeper is ~6'4", and can dominate the small-box, and not be worried about getting beat over the top, it makes it much more difficult to have clean crosses that can actually be volleyed or turned into shots on goal.

 

Shorter female goalkeepers have to play a little more conservatively and closer to their line (in general).

[tmwiese55]

That makes sense, thanks for the info. It's still surprising to say women's is more entertaining than mens, I suppose due to only having basic understand I can't really appreciate some of the intricacies that would make men's more appealing, I just want to see action and scoring opportunities.

[jerichoholicninja]

My wife played in high school and was a state something or other so she's tried explaining it to me. Still, all I see is some person kicks the ball to another person on their team and then the other team steals the ball or one team just ends up kicking the ball even further away from their goal and the process happens all over again. No one gets anywhere. If the field was about half as big maybe I could get something from it.

[tmwiese55]

that's generally what I thought and it basically held true after the men's WC. The women's seemed like they just went back and forth with scoring opportunities, one every couple of real time minutes. sometimes with a sustained offensive barrage with multiple tries by a team. really surprised me

[FVBrewerFan]

Basically the same thing as a 1-0 baseball game if you're not a baseball fan, or watching Dick Bennett basketball if you're not a basketball fan. It's why a goal or a scoring opportunity is more exciting, because there are so few of them.

 

Soccer has grown on me over the years, but I'll admit it's not the most exciting sport to watch. Part of it is, like all sports played at the highest level, they make it look so easy. It is not nearly as easy as it looks to make perfect passes with perfect pace over an over. But I get why so many people don't like it, and I don't bother trying to convince people they should.

[TheCrew07]

I've watched a ton of women's basketball since my dad coached it, my sister played through college, and now coaches herself... and it's come an incredibly long way in last 20-25 years. In some respects the women play a better brand of basketball, it's more team orientated, not a game of pure of athleticism and isolation like how the upper levels of men's basketball have been progressing.

 

I'm not a soccer fan at all but I can definitely see how the women's game could be viewed as "more pure" for lack of a better term.

[Thurston Fluff]

Brewers bullpen catcher does some pretty heavy double duty. Bullpen catching and gluttonous eating. http://m.mlb.com/cutfour/2015/07/02/134341308 Not sure if I'm proud or horrified he's one of us.

[TheCrew07]

I have quite a few friends who are convinced that being a bullpen catcher is the best regular job in baseball... no pressure to produce, travel with the team, get paid decently...

[GAME05]

I read that bullpen catchers make about $30-$60,000 per year. Certainly they have to do some extra work besides bullpen catch, so that makes for some pretty long days and you're doing it almost seven days per week for seven months. I'd imagine once the 'wow' factor of traveling with baseball players and working in huge stadiums wears off, the constant work and travel must be pretty grinding.

 

Especially for that pay, the job doesn't sound too glamorous. Plus you'd have to watch every game of the 2015 Milwaukee Brewers, and I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

[1992casey]

I think the Brewers consider Marcus to be another coach and his duties would be more than just squatting and catching warmup pitches. Technically, I believe that he, Joe Crawford, and a couple of others are considered to be "coaching assistants."

[1992casey]

Clyde Tombaugh, the astronomer who discovered Pluto in 1930, was Clayton Kershaw's great uncle.

[Thurston Fluff]

I saw this documentary on general Tso's chicken and decided to make it. Worked out well. But as I was researching recipes I read the T in Tso is silent. Think about that for a second. Someone had to translate Chinese writing, which is made up of symbols for words, into English, which has letters making up words. Why did they need silent letters?

[Raw Biz]

I saw this documentary on general Tso's chicken and decided to make it. Worked out well. But as I was researching recipes I read the T in Tso is silent. Think about that for a second. Someone had to translate Chinese writing, which is made up of symbols for words, into English, which has letters making up words. Why did they need silent letters?

 

http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=4682

[1992casey]

One part of it has to do with the transliteration method that's in place (the conversion of a text from one script to another). Another has to do with who's been in charge. Various governments have implemented different methods.

 

We've only widely referred to Beijing since the 1980s. Previously, it was Peking. Before that, a lot of maps referred to Peiping. Around the same time, Mao Tse-tung became Mao Zedong. And Chiang Ch'ing (aka Madame Mao) became Jiang Qing.

[nate82]

http://www.barstoolsports.com/chicago/japanese-high-school-baseball-player-has-the-most-absurd-at-bat-routine/

 

I'm just going to leave this here.

[WV Brew]

Get a grip people!

 

Bulldog mistaken for lion?????

[CheezWizHed]

I saw this documentary on general Tso's chicken and decided to make it. Worked out well. But as I was researching recipes I read the T in Tso is silent. Think about that for a second. Someone had to translate Chinese writing, which is made up of symbols for words, into English, which has letters making up words. Why did they need silent letters?

 

Also consider that some cultures pronounce the sounds a little different than we do. So sometimes those letters are placed there to make a "small" change and is "almost" silent.

 

I'm not sure I'm 100% correct, but I've always pronounced it by making the "S" sound (teeth together) but putting my tongue up by my teeth to make a very light "T" sound (think "its" without the "i"). Phonetically sounding more like: tSOW

 

What did the documentary say about the origins? It originated in NY, right? I have several Chinese friends who say there was no person named General Tso in China, nor does that food exist there. But I like it!

[Invader3K]

What did the documentary say about the origins? It originated in NY, right? I have several Chinese friends who say there was no person named General Tso in China, nor does that food exist there. But I like it!

 

A lot of what we call "Chinese food" is just a very loose American interpretation of their cuisine. Fortune cookies and chop suey are both (basically) American inventions.

[1992casey]

It's the same with Mexican food. The use of sour cream and hamburger are basically American, or in Mexican terminology, norteamericano.

[Patrick425]

Went to a 50th wedding anniversary in Menominee, MI this weekend. Gas was $2.03 per gallon on Sunday when we left. In Marinette (1 mile away) it was $2.56 per gallon. Also, the odd thing was that the $2.03 was for the "low grade". Mid-Grade (in Menominee) was $2.95 and High grade was $3.25. Quite a difference.

 

Someone I work with suggested that the difference between the prices in Menominee and Marinette might be because of different state gas taxes. This could be (not sure what the difference is, if any, in gas taxes are between the two states). However still don't understand the huge difference in prices between the different grades of gas.

 

edit: Just did a little research on state gas taxes. Found a state by state map for 2014 gas taxes. It was $0.413 in MI and $0.329 in WI...so unless there have been some big changes in the last year, the difference in the current price per gallon is even more confusing.

[jerichoholicninja]

Went to a 50th wedding anniversary in Menominee, MI this weekend. Gas was $2.03 per gallon on Sunday when we left. In Marinette (1 mile away) it was $2.56 per gallon. Also, the odd thing was that the $2.03 was for the "low grade". Mid-Grade (in Menominee) was $2.95 and High grade was $3.25. Quite a difference.

 

Someone I work with suggested that the difference between the prices in Menominee and Marinette might be because of different state gas taxes. This could be (not sure what the difference is, if any, in gas taxes are between the two states). However still don't understand the huge difference in prices between the different grades of gas.

 

Gas tax. I believe Wisconsin has one of the highest in the country.

 

Some friends of my wife live in Marinette and everyone that lives there goes to Menominee when they need gas.

[Patrick425]

Went to a 50th wedding anniversary in Menominee, MI this weekend. Gas was $2.03 per gallon on Sunday when we left. In Marinette (1 mile away) it was $2.56 per gallon. Also, the odd thing was that the $2.03 was for the "low grade". Mid-Grade (in Menominee) was $2.95 and High grade was $3.25. Quite a difference.

 

Someone I work with suggested that the difference between the prices in Menominee and Marinette might be because of different state gas taxes. This could be (not sure what the difference is, if any, in gas taxes are between the two states). However still don't understand the huge difference in prices between the different grades of gas.

 

Gas tax. I believe Wisconsin has one of the highest in the country.

 

Some friends of my wife live in Marinette and everyone that lives there goes to Menominee when they need gas.

 

 

Actually found this on Wikipedia (as of July 2015 - updated from my edit note in my previous post). It appears MI gas tax is more than WI.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_taxes_in_the_United_States $0.543 (MI) vs. $0.513 (WI)